Multiple-use sheath knife



March 13, 1951 v, szopA MULTIPLE-USE SHEATH KNIFE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 13, 1948 JNVENTOR. Ea l szopcz A TTOR/Vf VS Patented Mar. 13,1951

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MULTIPLE-USE SHEATH KNIFE Ted V. Szopa, Dallas, Tex. Application April 13, 1948, Serial No. 20,801

6 Claims. (01. 30-452) This invention relates to multiple-use sheath knives, and particularly to a multiple-knif unit including a large knife and a considerably smaller knife, both of which may be used with the same handle and having a sheath to enclose both.

The main object of my invention is to combine two knives of totally different ranges of uses in Qa single unit with a sheath therefor which serves to enclose both knives.

An ancillary object is to avoid having two knives or pieces of equipment to carry and account for and to combine the large and thesmall knife in such fashion that neither is likely to be mislaid.

A further object is to have the smaller knife permanently secured upon the handle and a seat or groove in the larger knife to accommodate the smaller knife blade when the two knives are assembled. I

Another ob ect of the invention is to make the large knife in such fashion that a latch thereon automatically snaps into engagement with the handle of the small knife when the latter is slipped in place upon the larger knife.

It is also an object to have a sheath which forms a casing for the whole unit when the two knives are assembled upon the handle and which serves as a holder for the large knife blade alone when the handle and smaller knife are disassociated therefrom and used alone. It is likewise an object of this invention to provide a compact unit which may be made in various forms while embodying the same principles of having the handle attached to one cutting unit, While the larger cutting element mav be attached to or detached from the handle and the smaller cutting unit, or element.

In other WOI'dS, it is within the purview of the invention to have the combined unit including a.

handle and a smaller tool or cutting element "associated with a detachable larger cutting element or unit in either a sportsmans model or a military model or an artisans model, so that either knives or chisels or instruments are used as the elements of this unit.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in further detail as the specification proceeds.

Iii

Figure 2 is an elevation of the multiple-use knife and its handle when removed from the sheath, as seen from the back thereof or from the left in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the larger blade of the combined knife unit alone with the same in position within the sheath, a portion of the near side of which is removed to disclose the outline of the larger knife unit Figure 4 is a vertical section taken on line 44 in Figure 3, with the sheath in place about the knife element;

Figure 5 is a side elevation of the handle and the small knife element when removed from th larger knife element and the sheath; V Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary section of the upper end of the sheath and knife unit with the handle and latching detail particularly shown n section, the latch being shown in closed position;

Figure 7 is a sectional View taken on line 'I-'! in Figure 8, with the latch released and the handle and the smaller knife in the first stage of being removed from the larger knife element and the sheath;

Figure 8 is a vertical section taken on line 88 in Figure 7;

Figure 9 is a transverse section taken on line 9-9 in Figure 6;

Figure 10 is also a transverse section taken on line I 0-l ll in Figure 7.

Throughout the views the same reference numerals indicate the same or like parts.

In certain occupations and avocations various types and articles of equipment are used, and particularly is this true with hunters, trappers, fol-esters, woodsmen, campers and soldiers, and it is self-evident that as such people travel about considerably, their equipment should necessarily be limited to as few pieces as possible in order to avoid loss and also to'facilitate moving about. Especially is this true of cutting implements, such as knives, which are used by all these classes of people, for all, upon occasion, have use for a large bolo or machete-type of blade or knife, and on other occasions require very much smaller skinning, scaling or hunting type of knife or dag- 'ger, but such implements are usually entirely withdrawn alone and used independently of the other.

Hence in the practice of my invention, and referring again to the drawings, a multiple-use sheath knife, generally indicated at H, primarily has a handle l2 and is shown in the first figure as introduced into a sheath 13 made of any flexible material suitable for the purpose, such as leather, plastic or the like, while a small and relatively narrow knife blade l4 extends up into the handle and is secured thereto by screws or rivets l5, extending through the handle and the upper shank 16 of this knife. Within the handle is a longitudinal shank-receiving chamber or rectangular socket l? of greater transverse dimensions than shank [6 of the knife Hi. The fasteners l5, l5 securely fix the shank [6 of the blade 14 in a superimposed position on one of the side walls of the socket with the opposing marginal edges of the shank spaced from the end walls of the socket. The shank of the larger blade 2| is slidably interposed between the other side wall of the socket and the shank IS with the shank 29 having a surface groove for the reception of the shank It. The groove .22 is formed longitudinally on the shank and blade 2! to slidably receive the blade l4 and shank iii, the recess being conformable to the shape and size of the blade l4 and its shank iii. It may be mentioned that at the upper end the larger knife 2! is rounded at 213 and of full thickness in order to avoid injury to the user when withdrawing the knife from the sheath.

However, when the two knives are combined and the shanks of both housed in the handle 12 andthe knives thrust into the sheath l3, they form together a compact unit, both blades having a common handle and the smaller blade it being partly sunk into the side or surface of the larger blade 21 by virtue of the recess or groove 22 into which the smaller knife fits so that only a portion of the smaller knife extends above the surface of knife 2!, as particularly may be seen in Figure 2.

As it is a feature of the invention that both knife blades l4 and 2! may frequently be associated as a unit with the handle 12 and thus use made-of the larger blade 2|, a special latching structure is included by which it is possible to lock the larger blade in place on the handle and use the same as though the smaller blade 14 were not present in the assembly. Then, again, it may upon occasion be desirable to use the smaller blade l4 alone and the latching means provides the requisite equipment for disassociating the smaller blade from the larger blade just mentioned. With these ends in view, the handle l2 has at its lower end a laterally slidable locking member 2 2 provided with a pendent finger piece 25 by which to manipulate the same, the locking member 24 having upper dovetail portions 28, 26 engaging in corresponding dovetail gib portions 21, 21 in the handle proper, as particularly shown in Figure 2, the arrangement being such that the locking member is slidable but will not drop off the handle, being retained by the dovetail construction and relation of the parts. Normally, the locking member 24 has a locking projection 28 which engages in a notch 29 between the shank 20 and the blade 2| of the larger blade unit, and thereby retains the unit or element associated with the handle and the smaller blade Id. In order to retain the locking member engaged in notch 29 on the larger blade unit, a leaf spring 30 is secured to the handle by means of one or more screws 3|, and at the lower pendent end is secured by a screw 32 to the end of the locking member 24, the spring normally urging the locking member laterally toward the right, as particularly seen in Figure 6 from that shown in Figure 7, wherein the knife and the smaller blade are in the process of being removed from the sheath and the larger knife element. In order to allow for the lateral movement of locking member 24, the latter has an internal clearance portion 33 which normally is spaced away from the edge of shank 20 of the larger blade element 2 I, but when the locking member is laterally shifted, as shown in Figure 7, this clearance portion simply compensates for the projection of internal locking member 28 normally engaging in notch 29 on the larger blade element.

From the foregoing, it may be noted that the arrangement is such that when the combined knife unit is housed in the sheath l3, it may be withdrawn as a unit therefrom by simply pulling upward on handle l2 when both blades will be released from the sheath together and the larger knife element 2! will then be available for use while ignoring the presence of the smaller knife Hi. On the other hand, when it is desired to use solely the smaller knife, pressure toward the left upon the finger piece 25 of locking member 24 will re ease internal locking portion 28 from notch 29 in the larger blade element While the knife is still associated with the sheath and the larger knife element will then remain within the latter while the b ade l4 alone is withdrawn with handle l2 from the sheath and from contact with the shank and blade of the larger knife element. Thus, the shank 20 of the larger knife 2| will remain protruding above the upper end of the sheath, as shown in Figures 3 and- 4, for ex amnle, while the smaller knife alone with the hand e l2, as particularly shown in Figure 5,, will be available for more accurate and finer operations than would be possible with the larger knife. In order to facilitate releasing the smaller. knife from the larger knife, and for this purpose moving the finger piece: 25, the sheathat the upper end has a c earance portion 34 so that the sheath will remain out of contact with the locking member or any portion thereof when it is shifted to release the larger knife blade.

As shown and described, the invention is particularly adapted for use by hunters and trappers, foresters, sportsmen, campers and soldiers, but in the Sportsman's model the large knife forms a hole or machete type of blade, while the smaller blade is useful for skinning, scaling, and is a hunting-type blade. On the other hand, the strict y military model would have the larger b ade used as a bayonet or the like, while the smaller would form a commando or combat dagger. The art sans model would include a larger cutting element or tool and a smaller tool or instrument associated therewith, but in all forms the same principles would hold that the larger cutting element or instrument would be releasable from the smaller, and viceversa, but in each case the smaller instrument or cutting element would be permanently attached to the handle while a casing or sheath would retain the larger element in place ready to be associated again with the smaller element and the handle as soon as the latter were thrust into place and automatically locked together with the larger element.

Manifestly, variations may be resorted to and parts and features may be modified or used without others within the scope of the appended claims. v

Having now fully described my invention, I claim:

1. In a multiple-use sheath knife, a handle having an axial socket therein, a first blade having a shank fixed in said socket with the blade extending in axial alignment therefrom, a second blade, a shank on said second blade slidably fitted on the shank of the first blade and nested therewith in the handle, locking means for detachahly securing said shank of the second blade within the hand e, said second blade being flat and larger than the first blade and having a recess formed axially in one of its side walls for the reception of the first blade which when the shank of the second blade is locked in the handle is inoperatively disposed in said recess.

2. In a multiple-use sheath knife, a handle having an axial socket therein, a first blade having a shank fixed in said socket with the blade extending in axial alignment therefrom, a second blade, a shank on said second blade slidably fitted on the shank of the first blade and nested therewith in the handle, locking means for detachably securing said shank of the second blade within the hand e, said second blade being fiat and larger than the first blade and having a recess formed axially in one of its side walls for the reception of the first blade which when the shank of the second blade is locked in the handle is inoperatively disposed in said recess, said locking means including a radial slot formed in the shank of the second bade and a releasable spring urged latch carried by the handle at the open end of the socket and engageable in said slot.

3. In a multiple-use sheath knife, a handle having an axial socket formed therein, a first blade having a shank fixed in said socket with the blade extending in axial alignment therefrom, a second blade, a shank on said second blade slidably fitted on said shank of the first blade and nested therewith in the handle, said shank of the second blade and the handle having releasable cooperative locking means for de- 1 than the second blade and the groove slidably Y receiving said first blade so that the first blade is inoperatively fitted in said groove when the shank of the second blade is locked in the handle socket.

4. In a multiple-use knife, a handle having a rectangular axial socket therein, a first blade having a fiat shank fixedly superimposed on one of the side walls of the socket, a second blade, a fiat shank on said second blade slidably interposed between the opposing side wall of the socket and the shank of the first blade and nested with the shank of the first blade in the handle, means cooperatively carried by the handle and the shank of the second blade for releasably locking the said shank in the handle, said blades extending in parallelism from the handle, the second blade being larger than the first blade and said blade and its shank having a longitudinal surface groove, said first blade being slidably disposed in the groove and being inoperatively housed therein when the shank of the second blade is locked in the handle socket.

5. In a multiple-use knife, a handle having a rectangular axial socket therein, a first blade having a fiat shank fixedly superimposed on one of the side walls of the socket, a second blade, a flat shank on said second blade slidably interposed between the opposing side wall of the socket and the shank of the first blade and nested with the shank of the first blade in the handle, means cooperatively carried by the handle and the shank of the second blade for releasably locking the said shank in the handle, said blades extending in parallelism from the handle, the second blade being larger than the first blade and said second blade and its shank having a longitudinal surface groove, said first blade being slidably disposed in the groove and being inoperatively housed therein when the shank of the second blade is locked in the handle socket, said locking means including a transversely slidable latch mounted on the handle at the open end of the socket and having a transverse opening for the passage of the shanks of the blades therethrough, said shank of the second blade having a slot formed therein for the latching reception of the latch and resilient means normally urging said latch into engagement with the slot.

6. In a multiple-use knife, a handle having a rectangular axial socket therein, a first blade having a fiat shank fixedly superimposed on one of the side walls of the socket, a second blade, a fiat shank on said second blade slidably interposed between the opposing side wall of the socket and the shank of the first blade and nested with the shank of the first blade in the handle, means cooperatively carried by the handle and the shank of the second blade for releasably locking the said shank in the handle, sa d blades extending in parallelism from the handle, the second blade being larger than the first blade and said second blade and its shank having a longitudinal surface groove, said first blade being slidably disposed in the groove and being inoperatively housed therein when the shank of the second blade is locked in the handle socket, said locking means including a transversely slidable latch mounted on the handle at the open end of the socket and having a transverse opening for the passage of the shanks of the blades therethrough, said shank of the second blade having a slot formed therein for the latching reception of the latch and resilient means normally urging said latch into engagement with the slot, said last means including a leaf spring mounted on the exterior of the handle and paralleling the socket, said spring being attached to the latch.

TED V. SZOPA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

